Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal

Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal

By Chris Colfer

4 ratings 3 reviews 4 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 9 - 12Grade 6n/a5.443432
Struck By Lightning: The Carson Phillips Journal follows the story of outcast high school senior Carson Phillips who blackmails the most popular students in his school into contributing to his literary journal to bolster his college application; his goal in life is to get into Northwestern and eventually become the editor of The New Yorker.

At once laugh-out-loud funny, deliciously dark, and remarkably smart, Struck By Lightning unearths the dirt that lies just below the surface of high school.

The film Stuck By Lightning features Colfer's own original screenplay. Colfer also stars in the film alongside Allison Janney, Christina Hendricks, Dermot Mulroney, Sarah Hyland, and Polly Bergen.
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Published on 11/5/2013
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 272

Book Reviews (3)

Add a Rating
emily popsberry emily popsberry

its amazing

I book was different, but I liked it. Though I wouldn't recommend it for youngsters, for middle and high schoolers? A thumbs up. I feel really sorry for Carson, because; Number one: he is quote, " at the bottom of the high school food chain." Number two: his mother is a.... You know, a person who stays home and drinks to much precision bottles. In other words, she's depressed. Number three: his dad left when he was ten. Number four: His grandma has Alzheimer's, so she doesn't remember Carson AT ALL though he loved her the most. Number five: His is the editor of a failed high school newspaper club. Well, besides all this, I still liked the book. It's witty, and has a major twist in the ending. And, lastly, yes, HE WAS STRUCK BY LIGHTNING!!!!!

Quintessence Quintessence

What can I say about Struck by Lightning? First of all, it's nothing like what you would think. The book isn't the fantasy of a high school nobody; it's the struggle of a young adult fighting his way through his messed-up life. This book is the diary of Carson Philip's sorry life and the things he does to make it better. It's hard, though; his dad left his mother when Carson was ten, his mother is an alcoholic junkie, and his grandmother, the one person he truly loves, is in an assisted-living facility because of Alzheimer's. Not only that, but the world seems determined to make sure that Carson can't get into his dream college. Even his school life is terrible. In his words, Carson knows that he is "the only person in this town whose IQ is larger than [their] shoe size". His school newspaper is failing; the seniors that took such great care of it left the previous year, and the new members don't care enough to actually write anything. But after a humiliating incident at homecoming, Carson has had enough. Apparently, the college he wants to go to now wants more than clubs; they want a full literary magazine. Carson isn't popular. He can't make people do things himself, and so he turns to the one tool he has left: blackmail. Yes, this book may have some things that younger kids can't handle. But for anybody who is a teenager or high-schooler, this book is a funny, dark, and relatable story of Carson Phillips' journey through senior year of high school. And trust me: you will not believe the straight-out-of-left-field ending. This book changed the way I looked at life, and I'm pretty sure it'll change the way you look at life too.

Amazing summery!! I thought so too